


Shiny Red Button

by HollowBastion (RadiatorfromSpace)



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Caretaking, Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Like hitting an ant with a shovel, M/M, Pining, Possessive Behavior, Shushing Kink, Sickfic, This fic is so cute it will unravel the socks off your feet and re-knit them around your heart, dub-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27852166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadiatorfromSpace/pseuds/HollowBastion
Summary: Riku doesn’t have the courage to tell Sora how he really feels about him, but one ordinary day Riku stumbles onto the secret to getting Sora to cuddle up with him without admitting his feelings at all! Every day after is extraordinary…because he starts abusing it.Or: A 15yo Riku thinks he’s being sosmooth…
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	Shiny Red Button

His best friend was a crybaby and Riku maybe loved it. Or he learned to, that fateful day he _panic-decision_ ed himself sideways into the maybe-sorta- _friends-who-touch_ zone without having to stick his neck out one bit.  
  
Riku was walking home from school with Sora like always, only the bright and shiny Sora of that morning had gradually descended like a mudslide into sniffles, sneezing, and slouching. Riku kept watch from the corner of his eye, not daring to look directly at him (also like always, but this time it was to protect Sora). (Maybe not for the first time.)  
  
“Ueerrggghhh,” Sora groaned. He tried to clear his nose again, failed again, and surrendered to mouth-breathing (again). His dark circles were only ever this bad when he was sick. He looked certifiably miserable.  
  
Then Sora either stumbled or his knee buckled--but Riku flung himself in front of him the second he started tilting, and Sora’s head fell against his chest instead of the pavement. It was one of those treasured moments, when Riku got to knot his arms around him and Sora let gravity bring him down flush against Riku. The long moment when he simply rested there, relying on him for support, lingering. Body heat mingling.   
  
Sora’s hair tickled Riku’s nose. He got to smell his shampoo: bright, citrus, and Sora. Riku’s eyes drifted shut.  
  
Sora nuzzled against his neck. A flutter in Riku’s chest. The _smallest_ , briefest sound bubbled up from Sora’s throat—the epitome of comfort and contentment. A surge of protectiveness in Riku answered it, as well as pride in his ability to manifest it; the strength to protect what matters…  
  
Sora whimpered in his arms. Poor thing.  
  
He’d carry Sora up to bed bridal style if he believed their friendship would survive that. If he believed he could survive without Sora…  
  
Not a snowball’s chance in hell.  
  
So Riku released Sora, retreated back into the distance of a friend, never mentioned it again.  
  
His thoughts would continually alight on the memory like doves, later. For days.  
  
He cupped Sora’s elbow as they ascended the steps of Sora’s house. He _allowed_ himself that touch. Like drinking water when he craved hot chocolate.  
  
Sonja whose hair Sora had plainly inherited greeted them in the kitchen. She took one look at Sora and snapped her fingers. “Straight to bed!” she said. “I’ll send soup along in a minute. Riku, dear, would you help him up?”  
  
This last request took a literal turn as Sora draped himself over a kitchen stool and patently gave up the good fight against gravity. Riku hauled him back up onto his feet to a dismayed groan from Sora.  
  
“Noo, Rikuuu,” he whined, “just leave me behind. Dig me a grave and tuck me in.”  
  
Stage II Sora Sickness: the Whining. Riku rolled his eyes.  
  
“And Riku, dear. Would you mind staying with him? Help him do at least a little homework?”  
  
“Of course,” Riku said, as though there’d been any doubt.  
  
It wouldn’t be the first time he tucked Sora in. Or watched him sleep, from a distance.  
  
``  
  
Sora’s bedroom.  
  
“Auugggh! I just wanna fight the sun!”  
  
“You can fight the sun tomorrow, Sora. Today you’ve got to fight your mattress.”  
  
“…”  
  
“You’ll be okay. C’mon, I’m here…don’t cry!”  
  
Sora was _worse_ than bad, it turned out—and maybe it was because this was far outside of Riku’s sick-person-skills or he was still _mushy_ after watching Sora coo over Kairi and Namine’s new kittens yesterday or a random lightning bolt of panic and impulse, but he did it. He fucking did it.  
  
He kissed Sora on the forehead right between the eyes and shushed him like a baby.  
  
“Shhhhhhh, Sora,” he whispered _against_ his skin. “I’ve got you.”  
  
His heart skipped a beat. Sora’s skin on his lips. Tenderness.  
  
And then he was face to face with a whole _new_ side of Sora, one who crashed into his arms slack-mouthed and sleepy-eyed and _wrapped around him_ without a hint of shame or friend-boundaries. “ _Mmm_ ,” Sora groaned happily as his arms cinched around Riku’s waist. He burrowed into Riku’s shoulder and Riku’s soul ascended heavenward so fast he heard it crash through the roof.  
  
Riku held him in silence for a moment. No false moves here. Sora would move soon. Er…he _would_ move soon, right?  
  
“Sora?” he asked, shaking him a little. “You still awake?”  
  
“No,” Sora mumbled. Didn’t budge an inch.  
  
Well, uh, he should get Sora into bed before Sonja came up with that soup.  
  
Sora was un-fucking-helpful as Riku maneuvered him into bed. He left all the work to Riku, just like with the raft, but this activity was far better than manhandling overgrown twigs, Riku had to say. He got Sora onto the mattress and yanked off his sneakers for him. Sora could barely find his own face in this state, Riku knew from experience, and he tucked Sora in.  
  
“I liked…that…” Sora mumbled, his mouth just shy of his pillow.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“When you…you, when you kissed my forehead,” Sora said sleepily. “I liked that.”  
  
Sora released a tiny whine and he reached out for Riku when he pulled away.  
  
Riku blinked owlishly at him. Uh…?  
  
“Lemme get your notebook,” Riku said quickly and grabbed Sora’s bookbag. Then he jumped onto bed (over the covers) beside him and dug through Sora’s binders for the right folder. Sora had said something about a test later this week in oceanography, the elective he didn’t have with him.  
  
“Riku,” Sora said with irritation plain in his voice when Riku took his time reading his notes.  
  
“ _What_?” Riku asked.  
  
Sora huffed and hissed. What was he mad about? Riku kept reading through Sora’s chicken-scratch notes.  
  
“Riku!” Sora snapped.  
  
“WHAT?” Then it just—it just came _out_ again! “Shhh!” Riku hushed him.  
  
And then Riku realized with the golden light of hope: it wasn’t a fluke. He was staring right at Sora when the anger was wiped clean off his face and his eyelids drooped and his mouth softened. Sora smiled dazedly at him and then—then he wrapped his arms _around_ Riku’s waist, rested his head against his stomach, and released the tiniest groan of bone-deep happiness.  
  
Riku’s skin turned to a carpet of butterflies erupting into flight.  
  
A forehead kiss and a shushing, huh?  
  
…Well. Christmas had come early for Riku. He just wasn’t moaning out loud.  
  
``  
  
He’d almost relaxed halfway into accepting the reality that this was happening when they were interrupted. Sonja came in with the soup and Riku caught the way her gaze dipped to where Sora’s arms were wrapped around his middle. She made no comment.  
  
“I think he’s sicker than usual,” Riku offered with his practiced veneer of self-assured calm. Just doing homework, nothing to see here…  
  
He tapped Sora on the shoulder to get him to sit up, but Sora just whined, “Remove my nooose!” Yet even that was a lot for him, and he wound up panting against Riku’s ribs.  
  
Riku did _not_ pet him like he wanted to. He was not allowed that. Water for chocolate.  
  
“Come on, Ra, sit up. Up!” Sonja said. Riku manhandled Sora back into sitting up and Sonja set the tray with the soup onto Sora’s lap. “Soup and pills, Sonja’s specialty!” she exclaimed with a voice softened by how cute Sora was when he whined--it was heartwarming. And heart _fuzzing_.  
  
Riku allowed himself a small smile.  
  
“Ahh, he’s just hopeless when he’s under the weather,” she continued. “Riku, here are decongestants, cough suppressants, and painkillers. Can you—?”  
  
“Got it,” Riku answered, peeling the foil backs and gathering the exact number of pills Sora could swallow at a time without choking. “Open up, _Ra_!”  
  
Together they got Sora medicated, Sonja administering the water Sora needed to stomach any pills, and Riku doling out said pills. When they were done, Sora slumped back against his headboard. Sonja pulled him forward while Riku replaced his pillow behind his back for support. Teamwork.  
  
Then…all that was left was to get the soup into him.  
  
``  
  
They managed it, in spite of Sora’s gradual mudslide back beneath the blankets. By the end, just his head was outside of the blankets like a brown-leafed Oddish.  
  
“Call it?” Riku said to Sonja.  
  
Sonja nodded. “I think that’s all we can hope for today. I’ll bring you a bowl too, Riku. I trust you won’t help to get it down, will you?” Sonja said with a wink as she picked up the tray. Riku snorted at her and she went downstairs.  
  
Sora gave Riku space while Riku ate. The chances of them getting any homework done tonight were looking dim by the time Riku slid the remainder of his soup onto Sora’s nightstand. He had first period free tomorrow to get his homework done, but Sora might be out for the rest of the week, judging by today.  
  
The _neon_ bright side: He’d get to hang out pseudo-cuddling with Sora every day until he got better! Sora always dug for comfort when he was sick and he was too doze-y to catch Riku smiling at how cute he was when he could barely figure out which way was up. Riku could let his guard down, and he could enjoy being a little closer with Sora when he was this out of it.  
  
When it was safe to be a few degrees closer to the sun.  
  
But now he gazed down at Sora beside him, touching wonderingly at the memory of what he’d witnessed. The hushing thing. The forehead kiss. His new power. Was it real? It wasn’t a fluke, he’d _seen_ it _twice_ —but how _could_ it be real?  
  
Was he about to lose Sora?  
  
“I feel like shit,” Sora whined for the millionth time. “I’m sorry I’m gross, Riku…thanks for staying, though…”  
  
“You’ll feel better soon, Sora…just…shhhhh… I’ve got you. Shhh.”  
  
Sora’s eyelids shut like they’d been strapped to lead weights. He sagged into Riku’s side with a blissful expression on his face. And a bright red nose. Aw.  
  
“Don’t go,” Sora murmured against him.  
  
Riku’s heart wobbled precariously in his chest. _Don’t worry, I don’t want to._ _  
_  
Riku wrapped his arm…not around Sora. He laid his arm awkwardly around the space behind Sora.  
  
The minutes ticked past.  
  
The points of contact, of mingling body heat.  
  
Sora all tucked up against him. Content as a clam to bed down against him.  
  
Riku was lucky Sora didn’t open his eyes, for how intently he was peering at his face.  
  
His heart skipped along in his chest. This was _safe_!  
  
Tender. Warm.  
  
Riku rested his free hand on his stomach, just below Sora’s arm. Not quite touching, but close enough to dream he could.  
  
Riku decisively shoved any thoughts about homework and due dates out of his mind.  
  
He inhaled a whiff of Sora’s hair. Citrus ‘n’ Sora. _Mm_.  
  
~  
  
All of Friday in school, Riku’s thoughts kept floating back to his memories of the afternoon before, revisiting each surprise that shook his heart in his chest, that almost shook him _open_ ; the things Sora did, the sounds Sora made, all of them keys threatening to open his ribcage and send all his secret feelings spilling out. The desire to simply hold Sora was an almost compulsive energy in his hands still. Perhaps this was what possession felt like, he thought. It felt too big to be solely his own.  
  
It had been a wonderful afternoon--he couldn’t even believe his luck! But he knew better than to bet on lightning striking twice, so when he showed up at Sora’s house that day to give him his homework, he was resigned to never having it again. Although he couldn’t help being a bit extra melt-y. Sora _was_ devastatingly cute, after all.  
  
Sora greeted him like nothing unusual had happened, still in bed. At first Riku pretended the same: he left more distance between them, made no comments, asked no questions. He did his homework at Sora’s desk for a bit. But after an hour or two, he needed a break. He stood and stretched, spying that Sora was already drooping like a dehydrated daffodil in his little circle of books and binders in bed.  
  
Riku went over to him, fully intending to tuck Sora in. He was probably too foggy to remember he _should_ be resting, as it was.  
  
“C’mon, you’re going down,” he said, gesturing for Sora to get horizontal. Riku set his things on the floor and hopped up on top of the covers beside him. He pulled out his phone and they bickered a little over what to stream on their break. Sora emptied a box of tissues on sneezes and Riku grabbed another box from the bathroom. When he returned to Sora’s bedside, Sora was whimpering again. Riku’s heart shook in his chest; he looked so miserable and defenseless there, just the kind of awful that being held would fix right up.  
  
But friends didn’t hold each other.  
  
Riku bore the pang stoically. He let it spread through him, the concentrated pain like an awl boring through his sternum, then the diffusion as the sensation became a diluted ache occupying the space within his ribcage. The terminal heaviness in the pit of his stomach it became before slowly draining away.  
  
Then he could breathe normally again.  
  
He handed Sora the box of tissues. He forced a smile. “I’m sorry you feel bad, Sora,” he said.  
  
Sora accepted the tissues with a miserable groan and wilted back into his pillows.  
  
Riku took back his place beside him. _Over_ the covers. He pulled out his phone and hit ‘play’ on the video.  
  
He detected the shakes before he understood them. He was already turning to Sora, knowing, before the tears reached Sora’s cheeks.  
  
“It’ll be okay, Sora,” he whispered. He kept his hands to himself. “You’ll feel better soon!”  
  
Sora said nothing. He breathed through his mouth and his tears reached his chin.  
  
“How about--uh”-- _nothing_ could make him feel better. He was in bed, he was medicated, that was the best it could be. “Maybe Sonja can… Aww, shhh, Sora, I’m here. _I’m here,_ shhhhhhhhh…”  
  
Relief, _plain_ on Sora’s face. The tears stopped and Sora got this dizzy yet happy look on his face.  
  
Encouraged, Riku did it again. “Shhhhh, now,” he murmured, tucking the blanket over Sora’s shoulders. Sora blinked sleepily up at him.  
  
Cautiously, Riku tapped the spot on Sora’s forehead he’d kissed the day before.  
  
“Right here, right?” he said like it was nothing to him.  
  
Sora nodded weakly. “Uh-huh,” he said.  
  
Was he going to lose Sora? Time slowed down. Riku circled the spot with his fingertip; Sora’s eyelashes fluttered. He tried with his thumb, gently pressing the pad over all those nerves at once. He experimented with running the pad of his thumb back and forth over it, then just ghosting over the skin. Sora was taking it; his eyes were almost shut.  
  
Another impulse had Riku leaning over him, his nose hovering an inch from Sora’s brow. His ghosted his fingers over Sora’s cheek and dipped his head down: he brushed his nose over the spot. Then he kissed it.  
  
Sora rolled over and wrapped himself around Riku’s arm with a little groan.  
  
_Fuck,_ he wasn’t getting that arm _back_.  
  
“Y-you…you okay, Sora?” Riku whispered. Could this be real?  
  
“Mmh,” Sora hummed happily. “’m sheepy when you do that,” he murmured, eyes closed. He nuzzled Riku’s shoulder.  
  
Flutters. He’d never been happy to lose an arm before.  
  
Finally Riku allowed himself to smile. It was a big, toothy, broad one that reached his eyes. He could almost see the light he was radiating brightening Sora’s bedroom.  
  
“Like that?” Riku murmured. His face wasn’t an inch away from Sora’s.  
  
“Uh-huh, like…that,” Sora mumbled into Riku’s shoulder.  
  
Riku kissed the spot again. Sora’s breathing hitched.  
  
“And shushes?” Riku asked.  
  
“…myeah. Shushes too.”  
  
“Shhhhhh…”  
  
A grin blossomed on Sora’s face, all happiness and relief and comfort. Gone were the whimpers and misery; he snuggled right up around Riku’s arm.  
  
But--no, _shit_ , his arm was already tingling from blood loss. With regret, Riku took his arm away and lay on his back.  
  
“Couldn’t feel my arm,” he muttered at the ceiling. “Sorry.”  
  
Sora closed the distance between them: he helped himself to Riku’s chest for a pillow; he folded his arms against Riku’s side; he looped one leg around Riku’s knee.  
  
Fuck!  
  
“Can you do it again, ‘iku?” Sora whispered drowsily.  
  
Riku wrapped his arm around Sora’s waist, where it felt Right. He rested his free hand on Sora’s shoulder, where it felt Good. Not a flinch. _Oh my god…_  
  
Slowly, he petted Sora’s shoulder. Maybe his Sora.  
  
_Could be._  
  
Sora’s bangs shifted a little with Riku’s breathing. Sometimes his eyelids twitched. He looked perfect nestled against his chest.  
  
“Shhhh,” Riku hushed him almost inaudibly, just because. A smile tugged briefly at the corners of Sora’s mouth.  
  
Riku’s cheeks hurt (from smiling).  
  
``  
  
“Riku, Sora, dinner’s in twenty minutes,” Sonja called through the door. “Are you still here, Riku? Are you joining us?”  
  
Riku jumped, the movement waking Sora who rubbed his eyes with a groan.  
  
“Yeah! I’m here! I am!” Riku called back to her, his heart hammering in his chest.  
  
Sora sat up with a yawn and a stretch. “I can breathe through my nose!” he said excitedly. Then he sniffed. “Well, sort of. I got one nostril back!” he said, punching the air with a cheesy grin. Riku laughed nervously. He walked back to Sora’s desk and his unfinished homework.  
  
Sora jumped off the bed and padded over beside him. Riku forced himself not to look. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Sora grabbed the binders Riku’d taken away from him before their “nap”.  
  
Nothing happened. Sora just hopped back onto bed and got back to work.  
  
_Okay. Okay, everything’s normal._ The feeling of Sora nestled against him was still at the forefront of his mind, but Riku found the problem he’d left off on.  
  
‘ _If train A starts in Kentucky going 74 mph and train B embarks from New York moving at 102 mph…’_  
  
Oh, no, there was no way in hell right after _that._ He grabbed his history binder instead.  
  
``  
  
Sora seemed better at dinner, Riku noticed. Sonja and Leon did too, commenting approvingly on Riku’s nursing skills.  
  
Riku shoved down his thoughts about that and shoveled popcorn chicken into his mouth.  
  
The dinner table conversation turned to _Something_ and then to _Something Else_ and then oh Riku are you staying the night?  
  
_Oh. R i g h t . Friday._ _  
__  
_ His stomach did a weird flippy-lurchy thing of half fear and half excitement.  
  
“Uh, yeah! I think so!” he said casually, glancing at Sora. Sora nodded happily over his water glass.  
  
The possibilities exploded in his head.  
  
“Text Hikari and make sure,” Sonja reminded him. “You practically live here but your parents should never have to go to bed wondering where their teenage son is on a Friday night…”  
  
“Just don’t stay up late,” Leon said. “Sora needs his sleep.”  
  
“I’ll make sure he gets extra shut-eye,” Riku said lightly.  
  
_Shouldn’t be difficult…_  
  
``  
  
Sora’s improvement was short-lived. Riku and he played video games a while on his bedroom floor after dinner before Sora was flagging again. Riku helped him to his feet and back into bed.  
  
“I’m sorry I’m boring, Riku,” Sora said while Riku lifted up the covers for him.  
  
_Boring, ha!_ “We’ll just watch stuff,” Riku said with a shrug. He was so “bored” he didn’t know if he’d manage to sleep tonight.  
  
Riku texted his mom but instead of texting back, she called him.  
  
“Son,” Hikari said in that voice that meant _I know you_. “Spending the night with _him_ again?”  
  
Riku screwed up his mouth. _Shut up_! She’d caught him staring dreamily after Sora after a sleepover about a hundred times too many for him to dream she was still in the dark. She knew what all of his different blushes meant, and _where_ they showed up on his body.  
  
“Is this going to be the big weekend?” she teased.  
  
“Huh?” he grunted. He was not helping her with this.  
  
“Is my son going to tell his true love how he really feels this time?” she asked. Stupid sing-song voice. Riku walked a few steps away from Sora.  
  
“Whatever,” Riku said, he hoped, carelessly. “I’ll see you Sunday. Er, can I see you on Sunday?”  
  
She laughed. Riku bit his tongue.  
  
“Alright, honey. See you Sunday. No later than noon. Your Dad and I also want to spend some time with our son.”  
  
“Okay, thanks. See you,” Riku said and hung up. “So what are we watching tonight, Sora? Your turn to pick.”  
  
They went to sleep like they always had, for which Riku was kind of grateful. He didn’t enjoy being kept up late at night by _thoughts_ or having to readjust his dick without waking Sora. They fell asleep on opposite sides of Sora’s bed in their night clothes like nothing had changed. Sometimes that was a good thing.  
  
Which was the nice way of smoothing over _this_ installment of Riku’s teenage suaveness:

 _“Yeah, of course you can borrow my DS, baby. It’s the Pikachu limited edition,” Riku said before basically spitting out, “I love you.”_ _  
__  
__Riku glanced over at Sora._ _  
__  
__He_ _was out cold._ _  
__  
__Oh thank god…_  
  
~  
  
Saturday at the crack of noon. Riku’d been awake two minutes and it was already a great fucking day!  
  
“Shhhhh…sh-sh-sh,” Riku hushed him, heart skipping when Sora nuzzled against his neck. Sora’s arm came around his waist and his other hand hooked over the neck of Riku’s sleep shirt which Riku left at his house just for this purpose. Well, not the hand thing, but he wouldn’t say no if that was all it took.  
  
“Hush now,” he murmured, stroking Sora’s hair. “Shhh…”  
  
Sora coughed a little into his skin, but Riku had already decided he was getting sick this weekend. Sora was still half-asleep, just burrowing for comfort and warmth as he always did when he was ill, and that meant Riku wouldn’t have to answer any questions; he could simply enjoy.  
  
And Sora felt great against him. All wrapped up in his arms like a package, right where he belonged. Soaking in all of Riku’s touches. Smiling like he was in heaven.  
  
“Mmhn.” Sora started to stir, so Riku kissed his forehead to drop him deeper, back down into the heart of Sleepy Sora Zone; he leaned in and placed one feather-light kiss after another between Sora’s brows and Sora sagged once more into that limp noodle life in his arms.  
  
“Shhhhhhhhhh…shh-shh-shhh…”  
  
Nothing else mattered.  
  
Eventually he let Sora wake up, though. Eventually.  
  
~  
  
On Monday, Sora seemed 75% better. And things between them seemed normal, but Riku watched for signs. He asked no questions and made no comments about the weekend.   
  
No shushing that day.  
  
Or the day after.  
  
But on Wednesday—!  
  
``  
  
Wednesday. Lunch.  
  
About eight of them were gathered around their usual table. Some were sprawled across it and others were clustered around the end. Axel took up half the bench, that’s why.  
  
What the hell they were talking about was utterly forgettable; the part that etched itself into Riku’s memory was his triumph.  
****  
**** “I bet I could!” Sora said brightly.  
  
“Nah, you’re too much of a crybaby,” Riku baited, smirking.  
  
As if this wasn’t the age old game between them, Sora’s expression twisted in shock. Then he furrowed his eyebrows in frustration and his bottom lip pooched out.  
  
“No, I’m not! Of course I can do it!” he said.  
  
“I doubt that.”  
  
“Come on! Yeah I can!”  
  
“Nuh-uh.”  
  
“ _Yeah_ -huh!”  
  
“Sure thing, Sora. Now _shh_!” he said with a triumphant smirk. As expected, Sora’s expression went a bit dazed and sleepy and he got smiley and quiet.  
  
Riku glanced at Axel, and blanched.  
  
Axel’s eyes were _boring_ into Riku, with that damn smirk on his stupid face. He knew, Riku realized with a twitch. He knew and, oh _god,_ he probably already knew about the hushing thing! Because one year back at summer camp there’d been this “Axel and Sora” _incident_ precisely during the 24 hour window between when Axel and Roxas broke up and got back together which no one talked about around Riku unless they truly wanted to piss him off.  
  
Riku placed himself between Sora and Axel. Axel chuckled, sliding his arm around Roxas’s waist. He and Roxas had been firmly, deeply, unquestionably together since then, but…  
  
Axel whispered into Roxas’s ear, something that sounded suspiciously like hushing. A weird look cropped up on Roxas’s face.  
  
Riku let out a long breath through his teeth.  
  
But he’d never _forgotten_ about that.  
  
~  
  
_But i_ _t worked in school too!_ Riku shone with glimmering purpose.  
  
`  
  
Still Wednesday. Home Economics. Riku was stuck with Hayner while Sora was paired with Kairi for the robot baby thing. He was a little jealous, but also curious. He peered over at Sora and Kairi’s progress once he and Hayner had figured the thing out.  
  
Sora was looking baffled at the robot in his arms.  
  
Riku took that moment to drop by their table.  
  
“You know how to shush a baby, don’t you, Sora?” he asked with a smirk. “You just go sh-sh-shhh!”  
  
Sora made an unidentifiable sound and dropped it. Fortunately Kairi caught it before the teacher saw, dive-bombing the floor to save the thing from destruction.  
  
`  
  
Thursday.  
  
“You all set?” Riku asked after shutting his locker. Sora gave him a cheesy grin as he crammed his textbook into his bag.  
  
He had an idea. Riku stepped close and whispered, “What was that? I didn’t hear you, Sora.”  
  
Sora flushed and gazed a little helplessly up at him, like he knew what was about to happen.  
  
Riku took the bookbag out of Sora’s hands. “Huh, Sora?”  
  
“Um. I, I’m all set,” Sora said.  
  
“Good,” Riku whispered. “Now shhhhh.”  
  
Dazed and dizzy, Sora released a small giggle. But then he swayed…into Axel who was passing by on his way to class. He picked Sora up off of him, kept his hand on Sora’s shoulder until Sora looked steady.  
  
“Careful, Sora,” Axel drawled. “You almost fainted. Someone should be _taking care_ of you,” he added, leering at Riku.  
  
Riku kept it all hidden inside. He held out Sora’s bag for him.. “Ready for Economics?” he prompted Sora.  
  
Axel just snorted. He went on his merry way.  
  
Stupid, cocky upperclassman. Riku wasn’t certain he could take him, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying.  
  
“Uh…yeah,” Sora said softly, accepting his book bag without appearing to see it in his own two hands. “If that’s what we have next, Riku. I--just, um.”  
  
Sora started off down the hall.  
  
“Sora?” Riku called. Where was he going?  
  
Sora spun on his heel, still worryingly wobbly.  
  
“Huh, Riku?” he said.  
  
“Economics is this way,” Riku said, nodding his head to his right. “Remember?”  
  
“Right!” Sora said, following him. “Lead the way, Riku!”  
  
Riku frowned. _Oh_. Okay, this hit Sora harder than he originally thought. Maybe he should lay off a bit…  
  
`  
  
Friday. Second to last period. Study hall. The day was nice so they were all outside. He, Sora, Tidus, Selphie, Namine, and Axel were lounging on a nice grassy bit on the grounds beneath a tulip tree. Kairi was off with Isa and Xion.  
  
When at last everyone around them seemed focused on their own stuff, Riku turned to Sora who was lying beside him in the grass.  
  
“Still got the sniffles, Sora?” he asked.  
  
“Huh?” Sora said with the barest hint of a sniffle. _Good enough_! “Oh, yeah, I guess so.”  
  
“Is your head warm? Let me feel.” Riku tore his glove off with his teeth and placed his hand against Sora’s forehead.  
  
Sora leaned slightly into his touch. Or had he? Riku’s heart skipped a beat.  
  
“You seem warm,” Riku said slowly (when he got his tongue to work).  
  
“I don’t feel completely better yet,” Sora said.  
  
“You wanna nap?” Riku asked.  
  
He removed his hand. He’d forgotten that he wasn’t supposed to touch his friend for that long.  
  
Sora nodded. He pushed his book aside, crossed his arms in front of him, and set his head down. He blew at a couple blades of grass that threatened to tickle his nose.  
  
Riku mirrored his position, but while Sora’s eyes lingered with the grass, Riku’s were devoted to his friend’s face.  
  
“Shhhhhhhh,” Riku shushed him very softly. “Time for a break, Sora. Shhhh…”  
  
It was like watching a drug cross the blood-brain barrier; the second Sora registered the sound, his face changed completely.  
  
Sora made a very soft sound of complete happiness into his arm.  
  
Smiling, Riku watched him. ** **  
********  
**** Nearby and silent, Namine nudged Axel. They giggled behind their books. ** **  
********  
**** ~  
  
A week later, Riku bounded up to Kairi and Sora in homeroom like he was king of the world, Kairi observed. There was an extra bounce in his step and he stood a foot taller. And he kept _leaning_ into Sora’s space, like, really close. Not lifelong-best-friends close, but like a weeping willow. Kairi kept glancing at Sora; she wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He certainly wasn’t moving away. And he was a bit more blush-y lately…  
  
Then Riku stole Sora’s snack bar right as he was about to bite it, clearly not caring who else in homeroom saw them. “Hey!” Sora snapped. Riku just laughed, raising his hands to defend himself when Sora smacked him.  
  
“I’ll buy you another one, Sora!” Riku said around his mouthful.  
  
Riku didn’t give a crap about the snack bar, Kairi knew. She smiled as she watched them.  
  
Sora smacked Riku’s arm again. “Come on! I’m starving!” Sora made a swipe for the remainder of his bar but Riku held it just out of reach. Sora leaped on him, so Riku stood, held it up above their heads. Sora jumped and stood on his toes trying to reach it.  
  
_Why even bother_ , Kairi thought with a giggle. _You know this game, Sora!_  
  
“ _RIKU_! Come _ON_!”  
  
Riku laughed. “Okay, fine, since you want it so much,” he said. He held out the bar for Sora. But he yanked his hand back when Sora reached for it.  
  
“You’re such a dick! I missed breakfast, Riku!”  
  
“Hold on,” Riku said. “You have to _wait_. You can have it back, but you have to eat it out of my hand.”  
  
Sora scoffed, but he stopped jumping. Slowly Riku lowered his hand and held it out to him again. Sora looked at it and then back at Riku, plainly deciding if he was fast enough. He screwed up his face and bent over. Glowering up at Riku, he took a bite.  
  
“Good boy,” Riku teased, smirking. Sora grunted.  
  
_Oof, Riku._ Kairi shook her head.  
  
With a sour look on his face, Sora swallowed and bent forward to take another bite.  
  
Riku was enjoying this a little too much.  
  
“What’s gotten you in such a good mood, Riku?” Kairi asked. Riku started, spinning towards her with a gobsmacked look on his face. Sora took the opportunity to steal back his bar, but Riku just gave Kairi his trademark smirk. But of course it had never been about the bar.  
  
“Eh, nothing really. Just having a good day,” he said. His eyes flickered back to Sora.  
  
There was something different in the air. She thought back to what Namine had said.  
  
``  
  
She spotted them again on her way back from the bathroom in the middle of class. They were jostling each other and goofing around, as usual.  
  
And maybe she followed them. Maybe.  
  
She slipped off her clogs and padded barefoot after them until Riku shoved Sora into a little alcove near some lockers. There was a design in acrylic on the bars outside the alcove, one complicated enough that Kairi hid behind it and peered through one of the gaps.  
  
Riku herded Sora against the lockers and spun him around to face him.  
  
“Yeah?” Sora said. “What is it?”  
  
“Nothing,” Riku said airily. He leaned his arm up against the lockers over Sora’s head. “Is your head warm? Let me feel, Sora.”  
  
“I’m not sick,” Sora protested.  
  
“ _Sh-sh-sh_ ,” Riku shushed, tearing his glove off with his teeth. He dropped the glove on the floor and palmed Sora’s forehead. Sora, now with a dazed look on his face, let him. “You feel a little warm, Sora.”  
  
“But…I’m not--” Sora began.  
  
Riku kissed him between the eyebrows. Sora’s knees buckled and he swayed dangerously--Riku caught him and folded him against his chest with practiced ease.  
  
“ _Okay, Riku_ ,” Sora said dreamily against Riku’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around Riku’s waist. He looked like he was about to pass out, and yet he was grinning as though he was floating on a cloud.  
  
Riku chuckled. “Okay then!” He held him, pink high in his cheeks as he smiled down at Sora’s crown. Riku never blushed!  
  
_Oh, I see_! Kairi’s eyes widened. Riku was _glowing._ _  
_  
They stayed like that, Riku holding him and beaming, and Sora practically napping on Riku’s shoulder, until the bell rang and students started filing out of their classrooms.  
  
Riku shook Sora gently. “Come on, you can nap in the library,” he said, guiding Sora out of the alcove.  
  
Kairi flattened herself against the bars, her heart in her throat, but the two boys passed her by without a glance in her direction.  
  
_Ohmygodohmygod_ , Kairi thought as she whipped out her phone.

_Nam, I saw them!!! Riku did that thing! Then he kissed Sora! Sora basically fell asleep in his arms._ _  
_ _That’s y Riku’s been over the moon every day!!_

She glanced after them.  
  
Wow, Riku was…practically herding Sora down the hall… Kinda cute, though, since Sora looked like he might walk into a sewer if Riku didn’t.  
  
“Riku and Sora, sittin’ in a tree,” she sang softly to herself as she ran back to her classroom. “H-U-S-H-I-N-G!”  
  
~  
  
Inevitably, Riku came to the sad conclusion that he had to be more _strategic_ about shushing Sora… He listed the rules in his head: not before Sora was about to do anything important in class, never when they sparred, not in P.E., not when Sora was balancing on something unstable, not when everyone was watching. Lunch room, _maybe_. Study hall and after school were often safe. Bedrooms were the best places for it. ****  
****  
So after school, there arose a _pattern_ …  
  
“Long day. You wanna lie down for a little bit?”  
  
“That’s a lot of homework, Sora. You should take a break.”  
  
“Are you cold? Lemme get the blanket. I’ll warm you up.”  
  
“You were sick not long ago. I wouldn’t push it.”  
  
“I’ll look after you.”  
  
“Did you get enough sleep last night? You’re only just getting over that cold, Sora. C’mon, shhhh…”  
  
~  
  
This led to Riku’s next dilemma. The “you’re just recovering” excuses were wearing thin. Something told him Sora would keep going along with it anyway, but Riku needed the ruse. So while Sora returned to his normal, full brightness, Riku was bothered by a growing unease.  
  
In study hall, they were all outside. Riku hung back with Axel, Isa, Xion, and Roxas on the grass while Sora and Tidus showed off on their skateboards to Kairi, Namine, and Wakka. Riku didn’t feel like doing his homework and it _was_ fun to watch Sora.  
  
But the next time Sora landed on the guard rail, something went wrong. He tilted a degree too far and his whole move collapsed; he fell to the pavement and down the stairs, skinning his shin all the way down.  
  
Providence.  
  
“ _Sora_!” Riku cried, running over. “Come on, put your arm around me, Sora. I’ll help you to the nurse.”  
  
“Shit, man!” Tidus said. “That’s a lot of blood! I’ll get the door.”  
  
Sora sucked every breath through clenched teeth--he yelled through his teeth too. He took hits like a champion (Riku never pulled his punches), but scrapes were another story. Riku got an earful of hiss-groan-yell hybrids every time Sora’s scandalized nerve endings produced another of an endless stream of stabs, thunderclaps, and burning waves of pain.  
  
Sora managed not to cry until they got off school grounds. But watching the effort this required was, as guilty as Riku felt about it, adorable.  
  
``  
  
“Owie-owie!” Sora whimpered when Riku helped him into bed.  
  
“I’m sorry, So—I didn’t even _touch_ your leg.”  
  
Sora worried his bottom lip. “It just burns so much, even shifting pulls at it,” he explained.  
  
Aw.  
  
Riku smiled. “You can spar with me all day, but a little blood…” he teased.  
  
“It’s not the same! My scar’s gonna be half my leg now. This is much worse than cracking my skull!” Sora protested.  
  
“I know, I know,” Riku said. It was true. Then another stabbing pain rocked Sora and his muscles all tensed up as he groan-shouted through his teeth. _Shit_.  
  
Riku dashed to the bathroom and got the first aid kit. The nurse had been out of topical painkillers and sent Sora home early, with Riku his designated nurse (approved over the phone by Sonja! Love her). He came back and dug out a tube of PhytoGel and some thick bandages, the huge kind that were like a pillow between a wound and the world. Maybe he’d wrap him in bubble wrap too.  
  
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Riku reassured him. He petted Sora’s forehead and shushed him until it passed. Which it did, but only in fits. When Sora could breathe properly again, he flung himself back down on the mattress. But he sat right back up again when he saw the gel.  
  
“Sh-sh-sh, I’ve got you, Sora,” Riku said as he sat down beside him. He began rubbing his back. “It’s alright, huh? We’ve done this before.”  
  
Sora groaned, looking only marginally less frightened. Sora’s trust stopped where touching his open wounds began.  
  
Riku pulled Sora’s leg onto his lap and took off his dressing. Sora let him do that without fussing; this wasn’t the part that freaked him out. Riku pulled off his gloves and squirted some gel onto his fingers. He looked Sora in the eye.  
  
“Ready?” he asked.  
  
Sora was biting his lip. He shook his head.  
  
“I’ve got you, Sora,” he said. “I’ll protect you, remember?”  
  
Sora grabbed his arm with all his strength (ow). Then Sora nodded.  
  
Gently and slowly, Riku eased the gel over the edge of the mildest scrape on Sora’s ankle.  
  
“See, Sora? I’m not even touching you. There’s a whole layer of gel between you and me,” Riku said softly.  
  
Sora whimpered—from nerves, not pain; Riku could tell.  
  
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” Riku said, slowly drawing the gel up onto his shin, where the scrape was deeper and the skin was angrier.  
  
“See, I’ve got y—OW!”  
  
``  
  
“I’m sorry, Riku!” Sora said sheepishly. “I’m sorry, sorry…”  
  
“Well, I’m used to it by now,” Riku said, ignoring the ache in his cheek where Sora had elbowed him. Besides, he thought as he pulled Sora onto his lap, there was a _bright_ side to this!  
  
“Lie back against me,” he said, aware and grateful that he got to say these words _and_ keep Sora’s friendship. “All right, give me this ankle. Just keep it here. All right so far, Sora?”  
  
He placed his hands reassuringly on Sora’s waist as he said that last bit. Just briefly. But the touch had a rightness that tingled in his palms long after he moved his hands away.  
  
Sora just groaned miserably.  
  
Sora locked his injured ankle behind his right knee which he’d drawn up near his chest. _All_ of Sora tensed when the gel tube’s cap opened with a soft _click_. Then his fingers were buried in Riku’s shirt behind him, twisting and tugging at the fabric with no apparent care for the effect on Riku’s appearance, which alone was enough to pull on Riku’s protective heartstrings. Sora whimpered and damn, but Riku wished he could make it all go away.  
  
Riku paused to wrap his arm around Sora again. “It’s alright, Sora,” he whispered in his ear. “I’ll look after you. You know that, right?”  
  
Sora nodded stiffly, but he leaned a little closer. “Right, Riku,” he said with a voice that was a dead-ringer for a the five-year-old Sora of his fondest childhood memories.  
  
Riku abandoned the gel and placed his free hand over Sora’s eyes and began rubbing his forehead with his thumb.  
  
“Shhhhhhhh…I’ve got you,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”  
  
Riku spent a while petting Sora until he finally sagged back against him properly. Sora’s nerve endings were counteracting it (Sora locked _up_ each time his nerve endings blitzed his brain, understandably). Still Riku held on and kept trying to soothe him. He couldn’t protect him from this…he could only ease it for him. Riku felt a little better about his chance of success when Sora was _in_ his arms.  
  
“Sh-shhh… I’m gonna try the gel again. The sooner it’s on, the sooner the pain will stop, remember?”  
  
Sora pressed himself back against Riku’s chest. He was doing that because jigging his leg like he _wanted_ to was dangerous right now, Riku knew. Sora released an ungodly hiss as Riku drew the gel over the worst of his shin. He grabbed Riku’s arm a few times to stop him when the sensation became too much for his frayed nerve endings. When that happened, Riku would shush him some more, even rocking him a bit from side to side, until Sora allowed him to carry on again. And sometimes a while after that point.  
  
“Shhhhhh, you’re doing so good, Sora,” Riku reassured him. Halfway done. Sora yanked Riku’s hand back again and squeezed it for dear life as another thunderclap of pain made him see white. He shook in Riku’s arms until it passed.  
  
“I’ve got you, Sora,” Riku whispered. “I promise I’ll look after you, shhh…”  
  
``  
  
“ _Crybaby,_ ” Riku murmured, grinning, into Sora’s hair.  
  
“Mmph,” Sora retorted.  
  
This was the height of luxury, Riku decided as he gazed up at the starry night sky painted on Sora’s bedroom ceiling. He was in Sora’s bed, again. _Under_ the covers. With Sora. And Sora wasn’t just _beside_ him, finally.  
  
Sora was definitely comfortable with their new dynamic of touch, now.  
  
How could he tell, you ask? It was subtle; Riku was observant and sensitive to the signs, having lived alongside his best friend all his life. He knew all his tells. Even the ones Sora didn’t know himself.  
  
In other words, Sora had micromanaged _all_ of Riku’s limbs around him until the two boys resembled a butterscotch candy (Riku was the wrapper). Sora’s bandaged leg rested safely at the top of their tangle, propped up on Riku’s hip.  
  
“Shhhh…sh-sh-sh-sh-shhh…”  
  
Sora was basically purring into his neck.  
  
_Fuck_ _,_ _yes._  
  
Sora was _glowing_ in his arms--almost literally. Riku kept angling his head to peak at Sora’s sleepy face, and the serene grin he kept finding there made him float. He was just so _Good_ to hold…  
  
He could almost believe Sora loved him back.  
  
~  
  
That evening, Riku’s house.  
  
“Son,” Sephiroth said in that way that made Riku go _oh shit._  
  
Riku jerked to a halt in the kitchen and slowly, begrudgingly, turned to face his father. The man just tended to manifest in places rather than walk into them like a normal person, and he filled up whichever side of the room he was on. _  
__  
_ He never called the man _dad_ , he was just too…too _Sephiroth_ for that. Everyone who met Sephiroth without Riku in tow was surprised to learn he was a father. They were surprised Sephiroth was married, too. He did a shit job at coming off human. And yet he always spoke in this soft, gentle voice that sat ill with his appearance and aura.  
  
He was not someone Riku tried to confide in.  
  
“Yeah, father?” Riku said. _Please don’t talk to me. Please_. _Please?_ _  
__  
_ “Your mother won’t tell you this, but I see you need to hear it,” Sephiroth said silkily. “Your recent fad with Sora is suspect.” _  
__  
_ Riku’s collectedness crumped under his father’s steely gaze. He screwed up his mouth and shoved his hands in his pockets. His shoulders rose as high as earrings and he looked pointedly at the floor.  
  
“Well--whenever I hush him, he falls in love with me for a few minutes!” he said quickly. “I have to keep doing it. The spell always ends!”  
  
Sephiroth regarded him stoically. Riku didn’t have the heart necessary to look him in the eye for more than half a second, so after glancing up at him, he made most of his eye-contact with the kitchen tiles.  
  
“Love is not magic,” Sephiroth said at last. “Nor is it a miracle. And neither is what you’re doing to him.”  
  
Sephiroth walked to the doorway, but he paused to place a hand on Riku’s shoulder, which was rare for him.  
  
“Your Sora remembers what you do afterward, isn’t that so? He keeps sticking around after you do it. Think about that.”  
  
He left, with Riku facing more uncertainty than before.  
  
~  
  
It had been a wonderful, beautiful month. But in that time, maybe Riku got full of himself, a bit bold and careless. One day he ditched class early and came upon Sora, innocent and distracted, in a deserted hallway. Thinking of nothing more than the goodies he was about to get, Riku bounded up behind Sora and yelled “BOO!” Sora spun and leaped back against the lockers and Riku slid neatly into his personal space.  
  
He rested his arm against the metal over Sora’s head, unconsciously caging him in. “Why so scared, Sora?” he taunted. “I’ll always protect you! You don’t have to worry… _remember_? I got you…shhh…”  
  
The irritated expression on Sora’s face was swiftly swept away and a dreamy, oh-so-sleepy smile curved his lips. He swayed on his feet a little, and Riku thoughtfully slid his arm around his waist to steady him.  
  
“Shhhhh,” he hushed, nuzzling against the tender spot on Sora’s forehead. Sora’s breath hitched. He was melting under Riku’s ministrations.  
  
“You like that?” Riku murmured. “You’re such a sleepyhead, Sora…”  
  
But this time Sora fought it. The wave of sleepiness plain on his face suddenly crumpled as Sora screwed up his expression. He shook his head and glared up at him.  
  
“Riku!” he snapped. “Come on!”  
  
Riku just laughed and held him closer. “What’s the matter, Sora! Can’t take a joke? Shhhhh.”  
  
Shaking his head again, Sora stamped his foot. “Riku, you idiot,” he said. “You’re stupid!”  
  
He grabbed Riku’s face and kissed him.  
  
_Oh!_  
  
Now Riku sagged into _him_.  
  
****The End****

**Author's Note:**

> I used the name for Sora’s mum that Sephiroth’s Stalker did in “Change My Stripes.” AM I ALONE IN REMEMBERING THAT FIC???? THE OLD GUARD FIC????? FUCK! I never got over my KH1 feels… ;__;
> 
> The water for hot chocolate idiom is a **mis** interpretation of a Mexican saying. I’m applying it in this fic as _trying to content yourself with drinking something as thin-tasting as water when you are subject to a powerful desire for something rich and lovely_ when actually the saying means “fucking angry but not yet on the outside.” Lol.
> 
> Get @ me on [Twitter.](Https://twitter.com/radifromspace) I need more people to scream about SoRiku and BakuDeku fandom feelings w/!


End file.
